Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

Perhaps it was due to strong pressure from Germany, Spain and Japan, or as those outside said, it was because Britain did not want the Netherlands to indirectly turn Britain against Spain and Japan at this time, so Britain put pressure on the Netherlands. Therefore, on July 10, the Dutch government expressed in a private phone call to the governments of the three countries that in order to better manage the Dutch territories, it was willing to reduce the scope of management and include the rest of the areas such as the horses occupied by Japan. The Lugu Islands, the Sulawesi Island occupied by the German Empire, and the Nusa Tenggara Islands occupied by Spain were transferred to the three parties. However, in principle, the three countries need to pay a transfer fee so that the Netherlands will not be too embarrassed.

Finally, with the acquiescence of Britain, the four countries reached an agreement.

The German Empire was willing to spend 20 million marks to buy Sulawesi.

Spain is also willing to pay the same price of 5 million pesetas to buy the Nusa Tenggara Islands.

But Japan is the most popular. The island finally fought hard and owed Spain 1 million pesetas for goods. It only raised 3.5 million pesetas, which was still short of 5 million pesetas. A huge amount of 1.5 million, which made the Japanese government anxious. In the end, what made people laugh or cry was that Japan shamelessly asked Britain for payment, and Britain actually agreed. This would certainly make the Netherlands dissatisfied. After all, their allies lent money to their land blackmailers to buy their own land. No one will be able to remain calm. [

This was private, but when the ambassadors of the four countries officially announced the news to the outside world on July 15 in the United Kingdom, which was regarded as the mediator, the world was still shocked.

However, soon, people can understand that such a result will occur in the end.

No matter how powerful the United Kingdom is and the world's largest power, when facing Germany and Spain, which are among the top four in the world in terms of economy and military, they have to carefully consider the consequences of going to war with these two countries. Obviously, Spain and the German Empire saw this clearly, so they had no scruples.

Although Japan is far from being ranked as a powerful country economically, Japan's influence in the Pacific and the Far East cannot be ignored. If Japan really unites with Spain and adds the German Empire, even the United Kingdom and the The French alliance, faced with the need for money and weapons, had weapons and money from Spain and the German Empire, plus the military and manpower of the Japanese. At that time, the combined military strength of Britain and France in Indochina was really far from enough. .

Even if you add the servant army in India, you will definitely not get any benefits when facing the three countries. As the world's largest country, the British will naturally not really take such a risk to become their number one country. The status of a powerful nation.

Moreover, France may not necessarily start a war with Spain, the quietest left neighbor, and the German Empire, the right neighbor that worries France the most, for the sake of Britain's ally, the Netherlands, because they can clearly see with their eyes closed that when the war When the fight actually broke out, they didn’t know whether Japan would be the most harmed, but they definitely knew that France was the most miserable. After all, they were between the two warring powers, and the artillery fire from both sides had already fallen, even if they wanted to escape. It is also difficult, so this is why France has always maintained a certain silence when facing the Spanish issue. Even when faced with the demands of its ally Russia, it refused to antagonize Spain on the grounds of divorce.

France thinks like this, but so does Britain. In their view, the German Empire is the only thing they need to deal with now. As for Spain, we will talk about it later.

It was Britain's scruples and France's deliberate blindness and deafness. Except for a slight mention of the German Empire when facing the German Empire's acquisition of land, it was speechless.

This thing happened very quickly, but it also went away very quickly. Russia and the United States even stalled before they had time to express their opinions on real research and countermeasures. The result was really shocking. Could it be said that such a clear occupation of territory can be done without firing a shot? This land is too easy to come by. For this reason, they even thought about uniting the two countries to drive out the Netherlands. Grab the remaining land from them, but just when this idea has just been ignited in their hearts, and they have not yet had time to grow, let alone implement it, the ambassadors of the five countries of Britain, Germany, Spain, Japan and the Netherlands officially formally arrived in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. issue a statement,

The statement said: The Netherlands is a peace-loving country and one of the great countries in Europe. Therefore, when treating such a country, all countries in the world should pay more respect to the Netherlands, such as its territorial integrity. Therefore, , the territorial rights and interests of the Netherlands should also be recognized by everyone. Once again, the four countries have officially recognized the Dutch team in southern Kalimantan and Java. In return, the Netherlands is willing to use Belitung Island between the three major islands as a water transportation terminal for the five countries, allowing the five countries to station the same troops on it, with an upper limit of 1,000 people. The naval tonnage shall not exceed 50,000 tons.

This document quickly appeared on the headlines of major newspapers. Before that, Taft and Nicholas II, who had already learned the results, could only sigh. The two countries also have the idea of ​​​​expanding their rights and interests southward, but they encounter the same difficulties and obstacles. This has to make the two countries feel sympathy for each other. Therefore, the relationship between the two countries has weakened. , and walked in again because of what they considered "unfair" treatment.

"Five million pesetas bought such a large series of islands. This time I really made a lot of money. Your Majesty's handwriting is still so precise and wonderful. His skills are not ordinary."

"It's not my means. The German Empire and Japan also made a lot of money this time." If it weren't for public opinion, Spain would definitely be able to monopolize two islands in the Three Avenues Group. But because of this, he The current result has been chosen.

"Sometimes, you can't just look at the immediate gains and losses to tell who will earn more and who will earn less. You have to look at the long-term and the changes in the surrounding situation." Nikolay Traspa paused, and then said something meaningful Looking over, Alfonso still looked directly at the other person with a smile on his face.

Truss applauded a few times in his heart and thought to himself: Sure enough, His Majesty has become more calm in recent years. Compared with a few years ago, he is now more like a king of a country. However, if there is more beard on the upper lip, That would be even more similar.

Seeing that Alfonso did not respond to him, but just looking at him, Truss knew that he had to continue what he said, "Although in terms of the size of the territory, even the Maluku Islands acquired by Japan are the same size as ours. Almost the same, and the German Empire gained even more. However, judging from Spain's situation, the existence of Western Australia itself will not make Spain lack land. Seriously speaking, the only thing in the north of Western Australia that plays a protective role is the Mulberry. Island Dees, Port Hedland and Christmas Island in the northwest are the only places on Spain's vast coast that are absolutely dangerous.

After all, Dutch Indonesia and Western Australia are too close, especially the Nusa Tenggara Islands. The distance from there to Port Hedland is about the same as the distance from Port Hedland to Perth, and there is only Hed in the north. How could a large military port like Langang be able to cope with so many breaches? Therefore, there are huge loopholes in security protection, and there is the possibility of fish slipping through the net and entering Western Australia. Therefore, the Nusa Tenggara Islands are what we must win. With it, the north of Western Australia can worry about nothing. "

Alfonso smiled with satisfaction and said, "You're right, that's pretty much it."

However, Nicholas Truss asked with confusion: "Then why didn't we take Java, the largest island in the Nusa Tenggara Islands?" He thought this question was not just for him, but also for the whole world. Many people have thought about this question, but unfortunately, they have not been able to ask it. But now he has got this opportunity. [

"Do you know how many people there are on Java Island?" Alfonso asked without answering.

"It is said that there are more than 20 million people." Nicholas Traras didn't know why he asked this, and he answered truthfully.

"Then you know, the Dutch garrison up here is at most up there."

"But if Spain wants to come in forcefully, the less than 10,000 lazy soldiers from the Netherlands will definitely be able to defeat them in a short time."

"But we in Spain will also be injured, right? If it's not a serious injury, it's at least a minor injury, right?"

Nikolay Truss was stunned. "This" he suddenly felt that he had stopped speaking, because Spain might really lose a lot. After all, there were tens of millions of people and tens of thousands of European troops. This was no joke. There is a certain degree of difficulty.

Alfonso would not embarrass the other party, but sighed: "Actually, I don't take those Dutch soldiers seriously, but as you just said, we should take a longer view. There are tens of millions of people of various ethnic groups in Indonesia. Imagine that they have different religions, different beliefs, and different customs. In addition, there may be ethnic protests for independence in the future. When the time comes, the governance will definitely be like Cuba and the Philippines, and Unlike the Philippines, Indonesia is more complicated. Therefore, in order to avoid Spain being involved in it and causing opposition in the future, we only need to capture those islands this time. "

"Yes, now we have the Nusa Tenggara Islands for defense in the north, New Zealand and the Cook Islands in the southeast, East Australia is our natural barrier, and the vast Indian Ocean exists in the Cocosi Islands , Our Western Australian army is one of the safest places in the world." Nicola Tras said with a real sense of excitement.

"No, it's not perfect yet. We still lack a door, a south door. Only by adding it can we complete it."

"You mean?" Truss asked curiously.

Everyone should know what Alfonso is referring to, right? Hey, please vote, second update.